Bringing cheer to the lives of others

Thursday

The voice of Aviella Winder is music to the ears of soldiers of all ages.

A talented singer and musician, she donates her time to cheer up those serving or returning from overseas and is a regular singing “God Bless America” at many veterans organizations’ ceremonies. She also writes letters to soldiers, volunteers at nursing homes and hospitals, and raises money for charities including Golisano Children’s Hospital.

She said she does it to make people happy. And while she doesn’t seek recognition, her actions are getting noticed just the same.

Earlier this month, Aviella was one of five children honored by the Rochester Police Department with its “Do The Right Thing” Award for May.

Yes, Aviella is just a child — an 11-year-old sixth grader at Martha Brown Middle School, where officials have reported she is a strong student and a role model to her peers, according to the awards program. In fact, she opened the ceremony with a song.

“It was great — awesome,” Aviella said. “It was really fun. It’s awesome to see all the people that ‘Do The Right Thing’ — kids my age — that are great influences to everybody.”

Wanda Markert, program coordinator, said Aviella was selected not only for sharing her talent with others, but for her sense of civic responsibility and all the time she spends volunteering.

“She’s very passionate and very generous with her talent,” Markert said. “The Do The Right Thing Committee felt that she contributed enough and was worthy of being recognized for doing the right thing. She certainly has demonstrated that kids are good newsworthy.”

The program recognizes outstanding local youth to reinforce socially desirable behavior, demonstrate that kids are newsworthy and foster positive relations between police and children.

Aviella’s parents, John and Robyn Winder of Perinton, also attended the ceremony, during which each child was presented with an engraved plaque and several gifts.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” said Robyn. “It was absolutely incredible to see all the kids, to sit there and listen to all of the other stories of what the other children have done. These kids are to be commended.”

Aviella has been singing since before she could talk.

“Honestly, it was from the crib,” said Robyn. “I don’t know where she would come up with these tunes, but she was always humming.”

Aviella hadn’t even started school yet when she became a Britney Spears fan, singing and dancing to her songs over and over again. Other favorites include Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift.

“I love singing and dancing so much,” Aviella said. “I have been singing for a very long time — since I was a little baby. Since then, my whole family’s been very supportive.”

That includes her two younger sisters: Shaylah, 8, who has started performing on a limited basis with Aviella; and Audriel, 5.

Robyn believes Aviella may have been influenced by her great-grandmother, Mildred Saffer, who volunteered most of her life.

“She was selfless and gave everything she had,” said Robyn, noting Aviella visited her great-grandma at the Jewish Nursing Home in Brighton until she died.

“Aviella knew that my grandmother was a big volunteer right up until she ended up in the nursing home,” Robyn said. “She was always intrigued by that, and she just wanted to carry it on and knew that was a good thing to do.”

Not too long after her great-grandmother’s death, Aviella was in fourth grade at Northside Elementary learning about wars and soldiers fighting in Iraq. She said she started crying, thinking about how much they do for the country and people’s freedom.

That led to her affiliation with Soldiers’ Angels, a California-based non-profit organization of volunteers who support U.S. troops through a variety of programs, including sending care packages overseas. Aviella has also gone to the airport, sometimes waiting for four hours, to welcome home returning soldiers.

She’s also been working with local veterans who recognized her on Memorial Day with a “Friend of the Post” Award, presented by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8495 Junior Vice Commander Dick Grube, and Aviella handed out flags and collected donations for service men and women last Sunday — Flag Day — with members of the Veterans Outreach Center.

In addition, Aviella just received an award for being on the honor roll all year long at school and is working on her debut CD at House of Guitars in Irondequoit, where she participated in the 2009 Epiphone Guitarfest Contest, taking third place.

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